Chloroplast-localized PvBASS2 regulates salt tolerance in the C4 plant seashore paspalum.

SODIUM SYMPORTER FAMILY PROTEIN 2 (BASS2) is localized within chloroplast membranes, facilitating the translocation of pyruvate and Na from the cytosol to the plastid, where pyruvate supports isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) synthesis via the methylerythritol phosphate pathway in C3 plants. Nevertheless, the biological function of BASS2 in C4 plants has not been well defined. This study unveils a previously unidentified role of PvBASS2 in Na and pyruvate transport in seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum), a halophytic C4 grass, indicating a specific cellular function within this plant species.

Reversible Thermoelectric Regulation of Electromagnetic and Chemical Enhancement for Rapid SERS Detection.

Actively controlling surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance plays a vital role in highly sensitive detection or in situ monitoring. Nevertheless, it is still challenging to achieve further modulation of electromagnetic enhancement and chemical enhancement simultaneously in SERS detection. In this study, a silver nanocavity structure with graphene as a spacer layer is coupled with thermoelectric semiconductor P-type gallium nitride (GaN) to form an electric-field-induced SERS (E-SERS) for dual enhancement.

Zinc finger transcription factor MtZPT2-2 negatively regulates salt tolerance in Medicago truncatula.

Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are transcription factors involved in multiple cellular functions. We identified a C2H2 type ZFP (MtZPT2-2) in Medicago truncatula and demonstrated that it localizes to the nucleus and inhibits the transcription of 2 genes encoding high-affinity potassium transporters (MtHKT1;1 and MtHKT1;2). MtZPT2-2 transcripts were detected in stem, leaf, flower, seeds and roots, with the highest level in the xylem and phloem of roots and stems.

LSP-SPP Coupling Structure Based on Three-Dimensional Patterned Sapphire Substrate for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensing.

Although the fabrication of controllable three-dimensional (3D) microstructures on substrates has been proposed as an effective solution for SERS, there remains a gap in the detection and manufacturability of 3D substrates with high performance. In this study, photolithography is adopted to obtain a pyramid-like array on a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS), with AlO as the dielectric layer. In addition, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used to decorate Au films to obtain mass-producible 3D SRES substrates.

SERS Sensing Using Graphene-Covered Silver Nanoparticles and Metamaterials for the Detection of Thiram in Soil.

Multilayer hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM)-based SERS substrates have received special consideration because they accommodate various propagation modes such as surface plasmonic polaritons (SPP). However, the SPP modes are difficult to generate in HMM due to their weak electric field enhancement. In this article, we designed novel SERS substrates consisting of graphene-covered AgNPs and HMM.

Plasmonic optical fiber gratings based on few-layer TaC MXenes for refractive index sensing.

Tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) is a widespread approach for developing refractive index (RI) sensors. The unique optoelectronic properties exhibited by MXene are expected to enhance the performance of TFBG-SPR sensors. In this study, a TaC coating appropriate for sensing was obtained by optimizing the photo-deposition time, which addressed the challenge of preparing large areas of MXene.

Evolution of optical harmonic generation near bound-states in the continuum in hybrid plasmonic-photonic structures.

We investigate the nonlinear optical harmonic generation behaviors near the bound-states in the continuum (BICs) in hybrid plasmonic-photonic structures. The hybrid structures are designed to consist of a plasmonic grating covered with a nonlinear dielectric waveguide layer, which support two distinct groups of BICs, i.e.

Highly-sensitive sensor based on toroidal dipole governed by bound state in the continuum in dielectric non-coaxial core-shell cylinder.

The electromagnetic fields distributed on the surface region of the nanostructure is very important to improve the performance of the sensor. Here, we proposed a highly sensitive sensor based on toroidal dipole (TD) governed by bound state in the continuum (BIC) in all-dielectric metasurface consisting of single non-coaxial core-shell cylinder nanostructure array. The excitation of TD resonance in a single nanostructure is still challenging.

Composite substrate of graphene/Ag nanoparticles coupled with a multilayer film for surface-enhanced Raman scattering biosensing.

In this paper, we designed a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate for graphene/Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) bonded multilayer film (MLF) using the hybrid nanostructures composed of graphene and plasmonic metal components with significant plasmonic electrical effects and unique optical characteristics. This paper achieved the advantages of efficient utilization of electromagnetic field and reduction of fluorescence background based on the electromagnetic enhancement activity of Ag NPs and unique physical/chemical properties of graphene with zero gap structures. Au/AlO was stacked periodically to construct MLF.

Graphene Oxide-Coated Metal-Insulator-Metal SERS Substrates for Trace Melamine Detection.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has long been an ultrasensitive technique for trace molecule detection. However, the development of a sensitive, stable, and reproducible SERS substrate is still a challenge for practical applications. Here, we demonstrate a cost-effective, centimeter-sized, and highly reproducible SERS substrate using the nanosphere lithography technique.

Ultrafast photonics applications of emerging 2D-Xenes beyond graphene.

Driven by new two-dimensional materials, great changes and progress have taken place in the field of ultrafast photonics in recent years. Among them, the emerging single element two-dimensional materials (Xenes) have also received much attention due to their special physical and photoelectric properties including tunable broadband nonlinear saturable absorption, ultrafast carrier recovery rate, and ultrashort recovery time. In this review, the preparation methods of Xenes and various integration strategies are detailedly introduced at first.

LSPR optical fiber sensor based on 3D gold nanoparticles with monolayer graphene as a spacer.

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) optical fiber biosensing is an advanced and powerful label-free technique which gets great attention for its high sensitivity to refractive index change in surroundings. However, the pursuit of a higher sensitivity is still challenging and should be further investigated. In this paper, based on a monolayer graphene/gold nanoparticles (Gr/Au NPs) three-dimensional (3D) hybrid structure, we fabricated a D-shaped plastic optical fiber (D-POF) LSPR sensor using a facile two-step method.

Indium Tin Oxide Nanowire Arrays as a Saturable Absorber for Mid-Infrared Er:CaSrF Laser.

We demonstrated a passively Q-switched Er:CaSrF laser with indium tin oxide nanowire arrays as an optical modulator in the mid-infrared region. In the Q-switched regime, the maximum output power of 58 mW with a slope efficiency of 18.3% was acquired.

Broadband and Ultra-Low Threshold Optical Bistability in Guided-Mode Resonance Grating Nanostructures of Quasi-Bound States in the Continuum.

We model optical bistability in all-dielectric guide-mode resonance grating (GMR) nanostructures working at quasi-bound states in the continuum (BICs). The complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible material silicon nitride (SiN) is used for the design of nanostructures and simulations. The ultra-low threshold of input intensity in the feasible nanostructure for nanofabrication is obtained at the level of ~100 W/cm driven by quasi-BICs.

Low-Threshold Nanolaser Based on Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide Mode Supported by Metallic Grating Waveguide Structure.

A high -factor of the nanocavity can effectively reduce the threshold of nanolasers. In this paper, a modified nanostructure composed of a silver grating on a low-index dielectric layer (LID) and a high-index dielectric layer (HID) was proposed to realize a nanolaser with a lower lasing threshold. The nanostructure supports a hybrid plasmonic waveguide mode with a very-narrow line-width that can be reduced to about 1.

Noble metal modified ReS nanocavity for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis.

The rhenium disulphide (ReS) nanocavity-based surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates ware fabricated on the gold-modified silicon pyramid (PSi) by thermal evaporation technology and hydrothermal method. In this work, the ReS nanocavity was firstly combined with metal nanostructures in order to improve the SERS properties of ReS materials, and the SERS response of the composite structure exhibits excellent performance in sensitivity, uniformity and repeatability. Numerical simulation reveals the synergistic effect of the ReS nanocavity and the plasmon resonance generated by the metal nanostructures.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering by the composite structure of Ag NP-multilayer Au films separated by AlO.

In the present study, a nanoparticle-multilayer metal film substrate was presented with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) assembled on a multilayer gold (Au) film by employing alumina (AlO) as a spacer. The SERS performance of the proposed structures was determined. It was suggested that the SERS effect was improved with the increase in the number of layers, which was saturated at four layers.

Composite Structure Based on Gold-Nanoparticle Layer and HMM for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Analysis.

Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs), supporting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), and highly confined bulk plasmon polaritons (BPPs) possess promising potential for application as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. In the present study, a composite SERS substrate based on a multilayer HMM and gold-nanoparticle (Au-NP) layer was fabricated. A strong electromagnetic field was generated at the nanogaps of the Au NPs under the coupling between localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and a BPP.

Facile In Situ Photochemical Synthesis of Silver Nanoaggregates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Applications.

Recently, photochemical synthesis has attracted wide interest on in situ preparing the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate with excellent performance, especially in a compact space and microfluidic channel. Herein, a facile, green and cost-effective approach to in situ photochemically synthesize silver nanoaggregates is demonstrated for SERS applications. By adjusting the photo-irradiation conditions, the morphologies and sizes of the silver nanoaggregates can be deliberately tailored.

LSPR optical fiber biosensor based on a 3D composite structure of gold nanoparticles and multilayer graphene films.

In this paper, a localized surface-plasmon resonance (LSPR) biosensor, which uses a U-shaped multi-mode fiber (U-MMF), is introduced and investigated. It is modified with a complex of three-dimensional (3D) gold nanoparticles and multilayer graphene as spacer: n*(Au/G)@U-MMF, where n denotes the layer number of gold nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles were synthesized by reducing chloroauric acid.

Aluminum nanoparticle films with an enhanced hot-spot intensity for high-efficiency SERS.

The weak plasmonic coupling intensity in an aluminum (Al) nanostructure has limited potential applications in excellent low-cost surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates and light harvesting. In this report, we aim to elevate the plasmonic coupling intensity by fabricating an Al nanoparticle (NP)-film system. In the system, the Al NP are fabricated directly on different Al film layers, and the nanoscale-thick alumina interlayer obtained between neighboring Al films acts as natural dielectric gaps.

Broadband indium tin oxide nanowire arrays as saturable absorbers for solid-state lasers.

Indium Tin Oxide nanowire arrays (ITO-NWAs), as epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, exhibit a fast response time and a low saturable absorption intensity, which make them promising photoelectric materials. In this study, ITO-NWAs were successfully fabricated using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and the saturable absorption properties of this material were characterized in the near-infrared region. Further, passively Q-switched all-solid-state lasers were realized at wavelengths of 1.

An Au Nanofilm-Graphene/D-Type Fiber Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor for Highly Sensitive Specificity Bioanalysis.

A highly sensitive Au-graphene structure D-type fiber surface plasmon resonance biosensor is presented in this study to specifically detect biomolecules. The method of growing graphene is employed directly on the copper, and then a gold film of optimum thickness is sputtered, and the copper foil is etched to obtain the structure. This method makes the contact closer between the gold layer and the graphene layer to improve surface plasmon resonance performance.